All About Piyer the Muse

So, curiosity has finally gotten the better of you and you just had to
find out more about this redheaded gamin, eh? Well, my dear reader, you've come
to the right place.

Piyer is best described as an irreverent, happy-go-lucky imp of a teen, with dark
red hair, dark blue eyes, and a freckled complexion. So far, there have been seven incarnations
of Piyer. His personality, as originally conceived, is based on the literary character Gavroche
from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" -- especially as he is portrayed by Braden Danner
in the original Broadway production of the musical. I credit Braden with giving Piyer his initial
voice and cocky attitude. As for the Piyer-speak, that wasn't part of the original plan for him.

But I's awe'waz tauks 'ike dis! (But I always talk like this.)

Oh hush! And no, he hasn't. Piyer-speak started out as a way to give him a more
lower-class accent, but somewhere along the way it took on a life of its own. The
words themselves are the product of a sounding them out in a thick Brooklyn accent,
then writing them down the way that they sound. Easy, right? I wish! I ended up
rarely spelling the same word the same way twice, and I won't even mention the
number of times that I've been cyber-slugged for making his speech too hard to
understand. So... why does his accent change so often and so randomly?

Yeah! Why duz it?

Well, as Piyer has shown on several occasions, he actually can speak perfect
english / Pernese / whatever when he wants or needs to. He uses the accent, at least in his
weyrbrat incarnations, as nothing more than an act to fool folks into expecting little more
than drudgery out of him.

I's duz?! Gee! You learn something new every day!

He wants to live life
on his own terms, but as he sees it, if folks have great expectations for you,
you end up being guilted into living the life that they think you should have,
which is rarely the one that you'd choose for yourself. He'd rather be a happy
drudge than a unhappy, overstressed craftsman or the like.

Yeah! You tell 'em!

I think I just did, Piyer. But there is still more to tell. His original incarnation
was in March 2001 as an NPC (later PC'ed) at Seaside Weyr, a now-closed Dragonriders
of Pern PBeM club. He was only supposed to be a guide to the Weyr for my greenrider,
who had just been exiled, IC'ly, to that Weyr. Piyer, however, had other ideas, and
quickly became my second PC there. I was writing him for over six months before he
introduced me to Mykhalin, or Mykie as Piyer insists on calling him. More about Mykie
later.

The Seaside incarnation is Piyer's most developed state, thus far, so his voice
speaks the loudest. The second version was a 30-something brownrider at the old
Rocky Crater Weyr (since reborn as Rocky Crater Weyrhold). P'yer, while neither
looking nor acting anything like the original, was none the less a side of the
same gamin. He didn't get much play-time until close to the end of the club when
he revealed himself to be a crass, work-hard-but-play-harder man who would shag
anyone, male or female, willing to share his bed. It's interesting to note that
Mykie originated at this club several months before he appeared at Seaside, but
that it took roughly a year for RCW's P'yer and Mykie to meet. (Yes, Mykie was
the "nice piece of arse" that P'yer was bragging about to Kz'mir.)

Wh't kan I's 'ay? It wuz! (What can I say? It was.)

No comment. Versions three and four were slightly younger and older versions of
Seaside-Piyer for North Ranges and South Seas Weyrs. In both cases he was only ment
to be a lightly used NPC, but the North Ranges version, along with his Mykie, ended
up being used enough to require their being PC'ed. The South Seas version was, if I
recall correctly, the first version to reveal that the accent was totally fake.

Whatever. Version six is the gamin you hear doing the color commentary in the
background. He's a composite of all of them, so Faranth help us all! What's that?
No, I didn't miss one, I skipped number five on purpose as he's the one that only
a select handful of folks have heard from until now. His name is...

NO!!! Don't say it! Ph---leeze! You know how much I hate that name.

Cover your ears, Piyer, I'll only be saying it once here. Joseph Anthony Piyer is
his name, although it's probably best to just call him Joe or Joey or Piyer. He,
and his crosstown rival, Mykael Edward Sullivan (a.k.a. Mike or Mykie), are the
stars...

Star and co-star, if you will...

They're the main characters of PMS: The Piyer & Mykie Stories, a series
set on Earth, and one which I've been promising to write for several years, but all that I've
actually managed put down on... electrons... is a couple of notes and scene sketches. I hope to
do some writing in earnest on it eventually, or at least that's what my muses are demanding that I do.

Betcher arse!

See what I mean?

Last, but not least, is Mykie. An NPC originally, he was created in May of 2001 as
a young apprentice sailor and shipmate of Tolwynn / T'lyn at Rocky Crater Weyr. He
got very little use there (three or four posts). Later that year he showed up as
an NPC at Seaside Weyr where Piyer and Mykie were first paired together. Although
he's a Turn older than Piyer, he's usually the one following Piyer's lead. Mykie
is a nickname given to him by Piyer, who didn't care for his given name of Mykhalin
as it sounded to high and mighty for a kid to be saddled with.

Since that pairing, the two of them have been a team. Except for RCW (which breaks
all of the Piyer & Mykie rules) Piyer's always the younger, more assertive of
the two, but Mykie is the... *clears throat* I seem to have forgotten to mention
something. Except for the NRW version, all the pairings of Piyer and Mykie have
been romantic ones, with Mykie finding his backbone in the bedroom.

He says that oh-so-innocently, doesn't he? Anywho, that's the not-so-short story
of who Piyer is, where he comes from, where he's headed, and what makes him tick.

I'm da bomb!

You're... something... all right, Piyer. We're just not sure what...

*cough* Ya fa'got vur'shin seven! (You forgot version number seven.)

I was just getting to that. The latest incarnations of Piyer and Mykie were for
Rocky Crater Weyrhold. Piyer, as usual, is the weyrbrat son of two Monaco Bay riders,
neither of whom have had anything to do with him. And Mykhalin is one of a handful of
survivors of the disastrous Threadfall at the Murtrem Mining Hold. And please don't
call him Mykie as it was the name of his family's canine.

Well, that's everything so far, however, there is another version or two of Piyer
turning themselves over in my head, so stay tuned!